Thursday, December 15, 2011

Mobile Phones Gaming Survey

As we all know, mobile phones have become omnipresent. Talk, text, play… there is very little you can’t do with your handset these days. To understand the growth of mobile gaming, Market Pulse conducted a survey across prominent metros and tier 2 towns of India.

Usage behavior

Of the 14% gamers are using smart phones, 54% were using Nokia and 28% were using Samsung.

Time is Money and Money Matters…

Influencers:

36% respondents said that they are influenced by advertising when purchasing a game, 22% pay heed to game reviews while 38% are influenced by family and friends.

Money Spent:

91% respondents spend less than Rs. 100 on purchasing games every month.

Time Spent:

A whopping 92% game lovers said that they spend less than an hour playing games on mobile phones every day and 80% spend the same amount playing games on social networking sites. Youngsters (8%) spend up to 2 hours on playing games on mobiles phones everyday as compared to their older counterparts (3%).

And the Winners are…

Be it live sports or be it sports played on a gadget, Cricket remains India’s favorite. 55% players say they enjoy playing cricket on their mobile phones. Car racing games (31%) and “Snake” (24%) are other crowd pleasers.

Mobile phone games like Contra (5%), Carom (6%) and Moto GP (6%) are other favorites among the older game lovers, while the younger generation is showing a growing appetite for games like Chess (8%), Carom (8%), Bike Racing (11%) and Tekken (5%).

Those with an MHI less than Rs. 20,000 prefer to play games like Cricket (58%), Car racing (29%), Snake (29%), Sudoku (11%) and Mario (14%) on their mobile phones. As the income level increases, games like Angry Birds (6%), Need for Speed (6%), puzzles (15%) gain popularity at the expense of the traditional games.

Preferred Genres:

Gamers prefer action packed, exciting and invigorating games as is evident by the genres of games they like playing. Racing (57%) is most preferred followed by Action (46%), Sports (41%) and Action – Adventure (26%).

Racing is the most liked genre with 55% (MHI less than 20,000) and 49% (MHI 20,000-40,000) enthusiasts giving it preference. Genres of role playing, strategy and simulation are least liked by both income groups.

Interests

63% game lovers are interested in multi-player games which can be played online. This was higher at 71% among those with MHI of less than Rs. 20,000 and 56% with MHI Rs. 20,000-40,000.

Then what?

While 87% respondents can’t say what it is that they look for in games and 96% can’t say what will make these games better, one thing is for sure… India loves its games. And we love the fact that Indians let the child in them have fun.